David and Bathsheba 2 DBY And it came to pass at evening time that David arose from off his couch, and walked upon the roof of the king's house; and from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful; BSB BSB: One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
3 DBY and David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Urijah the Hittite? BSB BSB: So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
4 DBY And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her; and she had purified herself from her uncleanness; and she returned to her house. BSB BSB: Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home.
5 DBY And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child. BSB BSB: And the woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
6 DBY And David sent to Joab saying , Send me Urijah the Hittite. And Joab sent Urijah to David. BSB BSB: At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.
7 DBY And when Urijah had come to him, David asked how Joab prospered, and how the people prospered, and how the war prospered. BSB BSB: When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going.
8 DBY And David said to Urijah, Go down to thy house and wash thy feet. And Urijah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him presents from the king. BSB BSB: Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him.
9 DBY And Urijah slept at the entrance of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. BSB BSB: But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.
10 DBY And they had told David saying, Urijah did not go down to his house; and David said to Urijah, Art thou not come from a journey? why didst thou not go down to thy house? BSB BSB: And David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?” David asked Uriah. “Why didn’t you go home?”
11 DBY And Urijah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields: shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. BSB BSB: Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!”
12 DBY And David said to Urijah, Abide here to-day also, and to-morrow I will let thee depart. And Urijah abode in Jerusalem that day and the morrow. BSB BSB: “Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.
13 DBY And David invited him, and he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but did not go down to his house. BSB BSB: Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.
David Arranges Uriah’s Death 14 DBY And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by Urijah. BSB BSB: The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
15 DBY And he wrote in the letter saying, Set Urijah in the front of the thickest fight, and withdraw from him, that he may be smitten and die. BSB BSB: In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.”
16 DBY And it came to pass as Joab watched the city, that he assigned Urijah to a place where he knew that the valiant men were. BSB BSB: So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew the strongest enemy soldiers were.
17 DBY And the men of the city went out and fought with Joab; and there fell some of the people, of the servants of David; and Urijah the Hittite died also. BSB BSB: And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died.
18 DBY Then Joab sent and told David all the matters of the war; BSB BSB: Joab sent to David a full account of the battle
19 DBY and charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast ended telling the matters of the war to the king, BSB BSB: and instructed the messenger, “When you have finished giving the king a full account of the battle,
20 DBY and if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say to thee, Why did ye go so near to the city to fight? did ye not know that they would shoot from the wall? BSB BSB: if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall?
21 DBY Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast the upper stone of a handmill from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why did ye go near the wall? — then say thou, Thy servant Urijah the Hittite is dead also. BSB BSB: Who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’”
22 DBY And the messenger went; and he came and told David all that Joab had sent him for. BSB BSB: So the messenger set out and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to say.
23 DBY And the messenger said to David, The men prevailed against us, and came out against us into the field, and we were upon them as far as the entrance of the gate. BSB BSB: The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.
24 DBY And the shooters shot from upon the wall against thy servants; and some of the king's servants are dead, and thy servant Urijah the Hittite is dead also. BSB BSB: Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s servants were killed. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.”
25 DBY Then David said to the messenger, Thus shalt thou say to Joab: Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devours one as well as another: make thy battle strong against the city, and overthrow it; — and encourage him. BSB BSB: Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.”
David Marries Bathsheba 26 DBY And the wife of Urijah heard that Urijah her husband was dead, and she mourned for her husband. BSB BSB: When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.
27 DBY And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of Jehovah. BSB BSB: And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.